Forum hears new Greenslip scheme in NSW will punish drivers who are not to blame

The New South Wales Government has been accused of slashing the benefits of car accident victims in order to achieve minimal savings in Greenslip premiums.

The Government's bill to move to a no fault CTP insurance scheme is currently stalled in the Upper House, and stakeholders including lawyers, insurers and accident victims groups have gathered at State parliament to discuss the changes.

The Government says it needs to make the changes to reign in spiralling Greenslip premiums, which have increased by 70 per cent in NSW since 2008.

It says by moving to a no fault scheme, it could support an extra seven thousand injured people each year.

But lawyers say moving to a no-fault CTP insurance scheme will punish drivers who are not to blame in an accident.

Andrew Stone from the NSW Bar Association has accused the Government of making false comparisons with schemes in other states to justify the changes and he also says it has avoided focusing on how much benefits will be reduced for those not at fault.

He says the Government needs to release all its costings.

You're taking away benefits from innocent people and giving them away to people who don't deserve them

Christopher Burns from the Motorcycle Council

Mr Stone says those who are not at fault in an accident will be far worse off under the changes.

"We take the point of view that fault is a fair way to distribute a rationed resource. Currently we have a choice, we look after those who can establish fault, we leave to the social security and welfare system those who can't," he said.

"What is proposed is to stop looking after those who can establish fault to the extent that we do, look after them much less in terms of financial outcome so we can give a little bit of money to everyone. And we oppose that approach."

Christopher Burns from the Motorcycle Council says what is being proposed is an extremely limited scheme.

"What you're proposing is bleeding edge," he said.

"It hasn't been done anywhere else in the world to this extent and it's for a $1.50 reduction a week in CTP."

The Insurance Council says it cannot say exactly how much Greenslip premiums would drop under a proposed overhaul of the state's CTP insurance scheme.

Robert Whelan from the Insurance Council could not say how much cheaper they will be.

"Being able to provide any indication of what that would do to price and so on really depends on the detail of the proposed scheme," he said.